On Monday morning, I was playing with Henry before Veronica arrived. There was something different about Henry's movements. There was more confidence and stability in them. Now, my mom had said that Henry moved two knees forward on Thursday night and moved three knees forward on Sunday. And, Jeff and I had witnessed him lunge forward for objects and kind of do a one-two fall forward series of movements. But we hadn't characterized that as crawling.
It just felt like "this is the week." I had to teach in the morning, but I rushed back home for Henry's appointment with Dorsett (the physical therapist) in the afternoon. Henry always seems to do new things for her. Henry was very fussy during the appointment. Grandma arrived, and he became more interested in playing with her shoe than working with Dorsett, so much wasn't accomplished. He wanted to stand. That was about it. Henry did do a one-handed hand slap to Dorsett's hand on her way out. She said that learning to do tasks one-handed was yet a further sign of development and coordination.
At one point yesterday (I think it was), Henry did do a little hop while standing up, holding onto Jeff' s hands. That was new.
Henry wouldn't eat his dinner last night. I made him a bowl of avocado puree, which he put his fist in and then wiggled his fingers around. He had fun making the biggest mess ever of his food. It was all over the tray, his outfit, his face, his eye lashes, and his hair. Marley was happy that he threw his almost empty bowl of bananas, peaches, and raspberry puree on the floor. We gave him a bath, which he loved, and then he fell asleep on our bed. We slept until about midnight when I had to get up to pump and to pay some bills, and Jeff got up to finish our taxes. Henry was then transferred to the crib. It is hard getting chores done when Henry's awake, so we have to take these opportunities when they present themselves (even if it is midnight).
This morning, Henry woke up at 6AM. Had his bottle, but didn't want to go back to sleep. Had his breakfast, and was very alert. So, we went to the living room to play. I placed him on his hands and knees, and moved his right hand forward, then the left hand, then the one knee, then the other knee for him. He balanced himself well, while I did this. We moved several paces toward an object. I was surprised that he let me move his arms and legs. His usual reaction when I (or anyone else for that matter) try to control his actions is to do the opposite. For example, if you try to move his hand to touch an object, he'll pull his hand back. He doesn't like to be told what to do. Veronica arrived and continued to play with Henry.
Mid-morning, I decided to have a break. So I went out to the living room to play with him. And I could just tell it was going to happen, so I yelled for Jeff. Everything suddenly clicked for Henry, and he crawled about five paces forward. And then he did it again. No questions about it. Henry is officially crawling.
In the early afternoon, I heard Jeff say to Veronica, "Did you put Henry here?" Henry was at the steps of the living room. There are two steps that lead from our front hall down into the living room. Veronica said no. Apparently, she had placed him in the middle of the living room. Had turned to put something in the play pen. By the time she turned back, Henry was at the steps. That was probably six feet from where she put him down. Not only was Henry near the steps, but he was trying to crawl up them. Apparently, he doesn't believe in taking new skills slowly. Not only can Henry move forward with his crawling, but he can also change directions, which surprised me because it takes some coordination and weight shifting to change course.
What else did Henry do today? Henry picked up on the idea of waving to people. I unfortunately was stuck in the back pumping during this new skill, but Jeff had Henry waving to Veronica.
Grandma visited Henry in the afternoon. Jeff and I took Henry for a walk with the dogs before sunset. It was a nice day out. Grandpa came in the evening. Henry really showed his crawling skills off for him. Jeff got a little bit of the crawling on video. Due to some technical difficulties with our camera equipment, we only got a short segment. But here it is nonetheless...
Around 9PM, it seemed like a good time to take Henry to bed after his very active day. He waved to Grandpa as Grandpa left. Jeff took him to our bedroom. They are sound asleep snuggled together right now.
Henry's Accomplishments for Monday & Tuesday:
* One-handed hand slap
* Hopping while standing
* Crawling
* Changing directions while crawling
* Climbing up stairs
* Waving
Kate and Jeff's Accomplishment for Monday & Tuesday:
* Watching Henry
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